


Come what may

by Charlielinnea



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Greg swears all the fucking time, M/M, Not What It Looks Like, Single Parents, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, We love us some cliffhangers, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22761841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlielinnea/pseuds/Charlielinnea
Summary: Greg doesn't know what surprises him more: that his daughter is one of the lucky few to find her soulmate, or that her soulmate turns out to be someone Greg sort of knows... Or should've known about, at least.
Relationships: Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Comments: 22
Kudos: 54
Collections: Mystrade Soulmates Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So my list of priorities tonight should've looked like this:  
> 1\. Study for an important exam  
> 2\. Sleep.  
> 99\. Complete other unfinished fics. 
> 
> Instead my brain decided to just throw everything overboard and write this! It's my honest intention to complete all my fics and I swear this will be the last WIP I put up here without first finishing something else... But couldn't resist the soulmate week! 
> 
> Happy reading!

“DAD! Daaaaad! Daa-aaad!”

He startled so bad he almost fell out of bed when his daughter’s frantic shouting woke him up. Was she injured? What was happening? What was the bloody time? A quick glance on the bedside clock confirmed his suspicions, the angry red digits showing 3:37am. He threw on his old, ratty dressing gown and stumbled out of the bedroom, his heart beating wildly in his chest. 

“Jessie! Are you alright? What’s happened?” he called out on his way downstairs. 

“Dad, calm down! I’m fine,” his daughter yelled from the hallway. She appeared in the doorway, her long red hair covering her face as she bent down, trying to unstrap her high heel sandals. 

“Jessica, what the hell? Have you been out drinking?” He took a deep breath, trying to switch from total panic into something more coherent. 

“Yes, and I’m sorry, but that’s not important right now. Dad. Guess what?”

“...what?” 

“Come on Dad, guess.”

He stared at her, his brain slowly coming to terms with the fact that he was no longer peacefully asleep in his bed, but rather standing half-dressed in the sitting room trying to have a conversation with his inebriated teenage daughter. Who apparently wanted to tell him something so important that she didn’t mind being told off for sneaking out in the middle of the night. 

“You miss me shouting at you so you decided to wake me up after being out drinking? You can’t wait for curfew and extra chores for two weeks?” 

“No, not that.” The shoes finally came off and she skipped into the sitting room and gave him a quick hug. Her clothes (that showed way too much skin for a 17-year old girl, thank you very much) smelt of cigarettes and alcohol, but she was steady on her feet and had a huge smile on her face so he figured it couldn’t be too bad. “Check this out, dad.” She pulled up her shirt a bit, and half-turned so he could see properly. 

And there it was. Where it had always been, on the far right of her stomach, just above the hip bone. An incredibly detailed bumblebee, as if someone had transferred an actual photograph onto the skin. It had appeared there on her 13th birthday, only now it wasn’t in black-and-white anymore. It was glowing with colours, vibrant yellow and orange shades, mixed with some contrasting black. 

He was grateful for the armrest of the sofa behind them that supported him when his knees went weak. 

“Jessie… Wow.”

“I know Dad! It’s amazing, isn’t it? I’ve got so much to tell you,” she said, her voice bright. 

“Bloody hell, Jessie. Jesus.”

“It looks beautiful, doesn’t it?” She stroked the mark with her thumb, grinning at him. 

“Yeah… Yeah, it does.” Greg ran his hands through his hair, trying to wrap his head around the fact that his daughter apparently had found her soulmate. “I need a cuppa,” he decided and headed for the kitchen. “You want one too?”

“Sure, thanks Dad. Let me go change and I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a sec!” She ran upstairs, taking the steps two at the time. 

Fill the kettle, switch it on, remove the mugs from the cupboard and put tea bags in them. He knew the motions of tea making in his sleep, which was just as well now, when his brain refused to function properly. 

Everyone had a soulmark and supposedly a soulmate too, but actually finding one’s soulmate was not that common. The soulmarks had to physically touch before forming a bond and there was no other way of knowing who one’s soulmate was. Since the soulmark could be anywhere on the body, it was guaranteed to be difficult and sometimes downright humiliating trying to find a match. Most people, like himself, didn’t bother. Some got lucky and discovered their soulmates by chance, and yet others made it their life’s purpose to find a soulmate, no matter how painful and time-consuming it could be. 

And apparently his own daughter, his sweet Jessie, was one of the lucky few to discover her soulmate by chance. It wasn’t only her red hair and fierce temper she inherited from her mother then, he thought and rolled his eyes. Karen had also been fortunate enough to find her soulmate. Unfortunately for Greg and Jessie, it had happened just after their daughter was born, and no matter how much he had pleaded with her, she had abandoned everything and moved to France with her new husband. 

They had come around though, Greg always did. It had been hard at times, but Jessie was the light of his life and she seemed to think he was an alright dad too. Although he probably ought to be a bit stricter with her… 

His thoughts were interrupted by the whistling of the kettle and the simultaneous arrival of his daughter. She flopped down on the chair, and took a sip of the tea, grimacing at how hot it was. 

“Aren’t you excited?” 

“I am excited, Jessie, truly. Just… just a bit surprised, I guess.” He sat down opposite her, cradling his own chipped tea mug in his hands. 

“His name is William. He’s really posh, talks with all these big words and had a proper suit on! In a nightclub, can you believe it?”

“What I find hard to believe, is that my underage daughter went to a nightclub!” 

“Whatever, Dad, that’s not important right —”

“Jessica Miriam Lestrade, don’t you ‘whatever’ me! I’m happy for you but trust me when I say we will have conversations about your night club visits later!” He shot her a pointed look above the rim of his tea cup, and she at least had the sense to look embarrassed. 

“I know Dad… I’m sorry, okay?” She cocked her head to one side and grimaced at him. 

“Let’s leave it for now," he replied, rolling his eyes at his own inability to stay angry with her for anything longer than a minute. "How did you find out? What’s his soulmark like?”

“Oh Dad, it was amazing.” Her smile lit up the room and he couldn’t help but smile back at her. “He’s got his whole palm and fingers covered in musical notes, can you believe it? And… and afterwards they turned into these strange gold and silvery shades, never seen a soulmark like that before. You’ll see it when you meet him!” 

“I’m sure I will,” he replied, her enthusiasm rubbing off on him. “How did you find out?”

“Well, we were sitting at the bar, and I guess my shirt wasn’t… uh, that long —"

"You don't say," her dad muttered under his breath.

"— so when I turned to the side my soulmark showed and he didn't say anything at first because he's really polite, but then eventually he asked if he could see it properly because he said he saw it was a bee and he loves bees and I didn't mind so I showed it to him and when he touched it, it just happened! And it was amazing!" 

"I bet it was," he replied. "You said he's posh? In a suit?"  _ Are you sure his name isn't Mycroft? _ his brain helpfully supplied but thankfully that particular thought did not verbalise itself. 

"He is! And so handsome too. And funny. And just great, really." 

"Wow, okay, slow down. Just because he's your soulmate doesn't mean he's perfect, Jess." 

"He's perfect for me," she replied and grinned at him.

"Who are you and what have you done to my rock 'n 'roll daughter who declared romance to be a waste of time?" he teased, dodging the balled up napkin she threw at him. 

"New soulmate, new me," she said, her eyes glittering with laughter. 

"Shut up and drink your tea," he grumbled, but without being able to hide his grin. 

  
  


Of course he was happy for her. Worried, protective, surprised, too, but it was impossible not to be influenced by her obvious excitement. He just hoped that they would take it slow. She was still so young, still had so much to do before settling down. But right now he was more than content listening to her animated retelling of the night's events. 

They could discuss the rest tomorrow. 


	2. Chapter 2

Jessica was furious at the weeklong curfew her father imposed on her, starting immediately the morning after the soulmate meeting. 

“Dad!” she whined for what seemed to be the hundredth time. “You can’t be serious! It’s a Saturday and I can’t go out?! How am I supposed to meet with William if I just have to sit at home the whole day?” 

“You really should’ve thought about that before sneaking out in the middle of the night, Jess,” Greg replied, rubbing his temples. “He can come around here, if you really need to meet him.”

“Ugh, but Dad! We’ve only just met, it’s way too early for him to meet you.”

“He’ll have to meet me in the end anyway, might as well get it over and done with,” he said and shrugged. He downed the last of his now cold coffee, and shuddered at the taste. “I’ve got to go to work now. I’ll ask Mrs Patel to keep an eye on you today so don’t even think about sneaking out.” 

“You’re so unfair,” she muttered under her breath and stomped up the stairs to her bedroom. 

“I love you too!” he called out after her, rolling his eyes at the teenage drama. 

Most of his day at work was spent trying to figure out a messy case involving a runaway circus monkey, a furious Italian actress and her gravely injured ex-husband. Eventually he and Sally had managed to put the pieces together, arrest the husband for his clever attempt to frame his wife for assault, return the monkey to the circus and get the hell out of the station before anything else came their way. He’d been too busy to check in with neither Jessie or Mrs Patel, the neighbour, during the day, so when he arrived home he was disappointed to see that all the lights in the house were out. There was no way Jessie had gone to bed before 10pm on a Saturday night, so she must’ve sneaked out somewhere again. 

He swore at the pile of shoes that were left on the floor in the hallway and almost made him trip. Typical Jessie to leave everything a mess wherever she went, he thought and sighed. He needed at least one cup of tea, or something stronger, before trying to track down his rebellious daughter on the phone. 

One big mug of tea with a splash of rum in one hand and mindlessly scrolling through his phone in the other hand, he nearly jumped when he discovered that someone was sitting on the sofa, in the dark, in the sitting room. 

"Bloody hell!" he growled and grimaced at the pain of steaming hot tea spilling on his hand. 

"Very sorry sir! It wasn't my meaning to scare you. Are you alright? Can I fetch you some napkins for the tea?"

"Who the fuck are you?" 

"Oh. I thought Jessie had told you I'd be here this evening. I'm the soulmate. Er, I mean, I'm William." 

"Oh for Christ's sake," Greg muttered. "Of course you're here. A piece of advice, William, it's not a particularly good idea to scare the shit out of your future father-in-law by sitting unannounced on his sofa with all the lights off at almost 10pm. You're bloody lucky I'm not armed at home." He finally found somewhere to put down his tea cup and gingerly touched the back of his hand to see what the damage was. 

"Eh. Yes. I'll take that to heart. But I didn't want to wake Jessie up, and also I didn't know what time to expect you back. I suppose I could've made my presence known when you came through the door, but... eh, I didn't think of that, I guess." 

Greg found the light switch at the wall and blinked when the ceiling lamp went on. The lanky, pale boy on the sofa instinctively looked away from the light, giving Greg a few seconds to take a proper look at him. He had auburn hair that curled softly around his ears and forehead, and round glasses that should've made him resemble Harry Potter but actually earned him quite a sophisticated look. Greg rolled his eyes at the waistcoat and tie, but soon realised why he at least had omitted the jacket. 

Jessie was curled up beside her soulmate, her head resting on his lap, his suit jacket carefully draped over her. She held one of his hands between both of her own, and was deep asleep. 

Greg suddenly felt as if he had walked in on something that was not meant for his eyes. There was obviously no sketchy business going on, since the teenagers were both fully dressed as far as he could tell, but Jessie's face looked so serene and peaceful, in a way it hadn't for years. Only then did he notice how tenderly William was stroking her hair with his free hand, and he had to look away for a few seconds to compose himself. 

How did his sweet baby girl grow up so fast? One minute she was wobbling around the house on chubby legs, falling over every couple of steps, and the next minute she was a beautiful young lady with a soulmate. He wasn’t ready for this. 

“William,” he said, clearing his throat. “I think it would be best if you went home now. Jessie will give me hell for not allowing you to stay, but there’s no need to rush things.” 

“Yes sir, I understand, of course,” William hurriedly replied. “I wouldn’t want to impose, I’ll get going right away. I’ll just… eh…” He looked down at the sleeping young woman on his lap and frowned. 

“Don’t worry lad,” Greg said and chuckled. “She’s a heavy sleeper so you just leave her where she is, and I’ll get a blanket for her later.” 

“Alright then,” the young man replied and awkwardly shuffled sideways on the sofa until Jessie’s head was resting on the cushions instead. “And sorry again for the scare.” 

“Apology accepted. Don’t do it again though, once was enough.” 

“Certainly, sir. Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Greg replied flatly. He followed the boy to the hallway, half-listening to the endless stream of apologies and promises, and finally he was able to lock the door behind the late night visitor. Looking out through the window, he could barely contain an eyeroll when he saw William getting into the back seat of a sleek black car that pulled up outside. Of course Jessie had gone and found herself a soulmate posh enough to have his own driver. At least the kid seemed nice and friendly, if a bit awkward. 

He returned to the sitting room and covered Jessie up with the biggest blanket he could find. The tea wasn’t exactly hot anymore, but he didn’t want to miss out on the rum so decided to finish it anyway. He’d have to go back to work again the following day, and in the evening he was expecting yet another heated discussion about curfews and soulmates from his daughter… so he needed all the rum he could get his hands on.


End file.
